Impact of urbanization on suspended sediment and organic matter fluxes from small catchments in Tahiti

This study provides an initial characterization of pollution associated with storm runoff in Tahiti. A thousand floodwater samples were collected from three representative catchments and subsequently analysed. The main pollution parameters chosen were total suspended sediment (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP). First, organic pollution appeared to be related closely to sediment, thus TSS could be used as a global indicator. Next, regression models between an event's TSS load and its hydrological characteristics were used to obtain annual load estimates. Great interannual variability was found to be strongly influenced by the few major floods that occur during the rainy season. Our results also emphasize the importance of the impact of urbanization on solid catchment exportation: from 60 TSS t/km²/year in a natural forested catchment, fluxes reached more than 700 TSS t/km²/year during preparatory urbanization earthworks before stabilizing at 140 TSS t/km²/year in a consolidated urbanized area. Clearly, runoff effects need to be taken into consideration for effective urban planning and for the preservation of the coastal environment in Tahiti. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stream exports of coarse matter and phosphorus following wildfire in NE Victoria,Australia

The temporal change in total phosphorus (TP) export from two burnt upland catchments is reported. Following wildfire in January 2003, two burnt forested headwater catchments (136 and 244 ha) in the East Kiewa valley, Victoria, were instrumented to measure discharge, turbidity and to collect stream water samples. In addition, samplers were positioned in the stream bed at the outlet of each catchment to continuously sample material transported along the bed of the stream. Approximately, every 2 weeks, the material collected by the stream bed samplers was weighed and sub‐sampled. The percentage of coarse (>1 and < 5 mm in diameter) mineral (including soil aggregates) and organic matter was determined and then analysed for TP. Between the first and third years after fire, sampled coarse matter and associated TP loads decreased by an average of 53% and 62%, respectively. Over the 3‐year study, the amount of coarse matter exported during winter/spring decreased considerably, whereas export rates during summer/autumn remained relatively constant. Coarse matter exports were estimated to be approaching pre‐fire levels after 3–4 years. Results on total suspended solids (TSS) TP and total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) from a parallel study are incorporated to explore TP partitioning. TP exported with TSS dominated the total TP export loads, with coarse matter TP and TDP each contributing approximately 10% over the study period. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-frequency monitoring of hydrological and biogeochemical fluxes in forested catchments of southern Chile

The variability of rainfall-dependent streamflow at catchment scale modulates many ecosystem processes in wet temperate forests. Runoff in small mountain catchments is characterized by a quick response to rainfall pulses which affects biogeochemical fluxes to all downstream systems. In wet-temperate climates, water erosion is the most important natural factor driving downstream soil and nutrient losses from upland ecosystems. Most hydrochemical studies have focused on water flux measurements at hourly scales, along with weekly or monthly samples for water chemistry. Here, we assessed how water and element flows from broad-leaved, evergreen forested catchments in southwestern South America, are influenced by different successional stages, quantifying runoff, sediment transport and nutrient fluxes during hourly rainfall events of different intensities. Hydrograph comparisons among different successional stages indicated that forested catchments differed in their responses to high intensity rainfall, with greater runoff in areas covered by secondary forests (SF), compared to old-growth forest cover (OG) and dense scrub vegetation (CH). Further, throughfall water was greatly nutrient enriched for all forest types. Suspended sediment loads varied between successional stages. SF catchments exported 455 kg of sediments per ha, followed by OG with 91 kg/ha and CH with 14 kg/ha, corresponding to 11 rainfall events measured from December 2013 to April 2014. Total nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) concentrations in stream water also varied with rainfall intensity. In seven rainfall events sampled during the study period, CH catchments exported less nutrients (46 kg/ha TN and 7 kg/ha TP) than SF catchments (718 kg/ha TN and 107 kg/ha TP), while OG catchments exported intermediate sediment loads (201 kg/ha TN and 23 kg/ha TP). Further, we found significant effects of successional stage attributes (vegetation structure and soil physical properties) and catchment morphometry on runoff and sediment concentrations, and greater nutrients retention in OG and CH catchments. We conclude that in these southern hemisphere, broad-leaved evergreen temperate forests, hydrological processes are driven by multiple interacting phenomena, including climate, vegetation, soils, topography, and disturbance history.     

Searching for similarity in topographic controls on carbon,nitrogen and phosphorus export from forested headwater catchments

Topography influences hydrological processes that in turn affect biogeochemical export to surface water on forested landscapes. The differences in long‐term average annual dissolved organic carbon (DOC), organic and inorganic nitrogen [NO₃^?‐N, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON)], and phosphorus (total dissolved phosphorus, TDP) export from catchments in the Algoma Highlands of Ontario, Canada, with similar climate, geology, forest and soil were established. Topographic indicators were designed to represent topographically regulated hydrological processes that influence nutrient export, including (1) hydrological storage potential (i.e. effects of topographic flats/depressions on water storage) and (2) hydrological flushing potential (i.e. effects of topographic slopes on potential for variable source area to expand and tap into previously untapped areas). Variations in NO₃^?‐N export among catchments could be explained by indicators representing both hydrological flushing potential (91%, p < 0.001) and hydrological storage potential (65%, p < 0.001), suggesting the importance of hydrological flushing in regulating NO₃^?‐N export as well as surface saturated areas in intercepting NO₃^?‐N‐loaded runoff. In contrast, hydrological storage potential explained the majority of variations among catchments in DON (69%, p < 0.001), DOC (94%, p < 0.001) and TDP (82%, p < 0.001) export. The lower explanatory power of DON (about 15% less) compared with that of DOC and TDP suggests another mechanism influencing N export, such as controls related to alternative fates of nitrogen (e.g. as gas). This study shows that simple topographic indicators can be used to track nutrient sources, sinks and their transport and export to surface water from catchments on forest landscapes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nutrient source attribution: Quantitative typology distinction of active and legacy source contributions to waterborne loads

Distinction between active and legacy sources of nutrients is needed for effective reduction of waterborne nutrient loads and associated eutrophication. This study quantifies main typological differences in nutrient load behaviour versus water discharge for active and legacy sources. This quantitative typology is used for source attribution based on monitoring data for water discharge and concentrations of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorous (TP) from 37 catchments draining into the Baltic Sea along the coastline of Sweden over the period 2003–2013. Results indicate dominant legacy source contributions to the monitored loads of TN and TP in most (33 of the total 37) study catchments. Dominant active sources are indicated in 1 catchment for TN, and mixed sources are indicated in 3 catchments for TN, and 4 catchments for TP. The TN and TP concentration contributions are quantified to be overall higher from the legacy than the active sources. Legacy concentrations also correlate well with key indicators of human activity in the catchments, agricultural land share for TN (R² = 0.65) and population density for TP (R² = 0.56). Legacy-dominated nutrient concentrations also change more slowly than in catchments with dominant active or mixed sources. Various data-based results and indications converge in indicating legacy source contributions as largely dominant, mainly anthropogenic, and with near-zero average change trends in the present study of catchments draining into the Baltic Sea along the coastline of Sweden, as in other parts of the world. These convergent indications emphasize needs to identify and map the different types of sources in each catchment, and differentiate strategies and measures to target each source type for possible achievement of shorter- and longer-term goals of water quality improvement.     

The effects of topography and forest management on water storage in catchments in south‐central Chile

Our work analyses the intra‐annual variability of the volume of water stored in 15 forested headwater catchments from south‐central Chile, aiming at understanding how forest management, hydrology, and climate influence the dynamic components of catchment storage. Thus, we address the following questions: (a) How does the annual water storage vary in catchments located in diverse hydroclimatic conditions and subject to variable forest management? (b) Which natural (i.e., hydrologic regime and physiographic setting) and anthropogenic factors explain the variance in water storage? Results show that the annual catchment storage increases at the beginning of each hydrological year in direct response to increases in rainfall. The maximum water storage ranges from 666 to 1,272 mm in these catchments. The catchments with Pinus or Eucalyptus spp. cover store less water than the catchments with mixed forest species cover. Forest cover (biomass volume, plantation density, and percentage of plantation and age) has the primary control on dynamic storage in all catchments. These results indicate that forest management may alter the catchment water storage.     

Watershed delineation using hydrographic features and a DEM in plain river network region

Watershed delineation is a required step when conducting any spatially distributed hydrological modelling. Automated approaches are often proposed to delineate a watershed based on a river network extracted from the digital elevation model (DEM) using the deterministic eight‐neighbour (D8) method. However, a realistic river network cannot be derived from conventional DEM processing methods for a large flat area with a complex network of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and polders, referred to as a plain river network region (PRNR). In this study, a new approach, which uses both hydrographic features and DEM, has been developed to address the problems of watershed delineation in PRNR. It extracts the river nodes and determines the flow directions of the river network based on a vector‐based hydrographic feature data model. The river network, lakes, reservoirs, and polders are then used to modify the flow directions of grid cells determined by D8 approach. The watershed is eventually delineated into four types of catchments including lakes, reservoirs, polders, and overland catchments based on the flow direction matrix and the location of river nodes. Multiple flow directions of grid cells are represented using a multi‐direction encoding method, and multiple outflows of catchments are also reflected in the topology of catchments. The proposed approach is applied to the western Taihu watershed in China. Comparisons between the results obtained from the D8 approach, the ‘stream burning’ approach, and those from the proposed approach clearly demonstrate an improvement of the new approach over the conventional approaches. This approach will benefit the development of distributed hydrological models in PRNR for the consideration of different types and multiple inlets and outlets of catchments. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reservoir siltation in the semi‐arid highlands of northern Ethiopia: sediment yield–catchment area relationship and a semi‐quantitative approach for predicting sediment yield

Due to shortage of rainfall and its increasing variability, moisture stress is identified to be one of the most critical factors affecting agricultural productivity in the drylands of Ethiopia. To circumvent this problem, a strategy of supplemental irrigation through surface water harvesting was adopted by the government and several micro‐dams have been built in the semi‐arid parts of the country. However, the benefits from the water harvesting schemes are not sustainable because of rapid water storage loss due to siltation. There is, therefore, an urgent need for improved catchment‐based erosion control and sediment management strategies. The design and implementation of such strategies require data on the rate and magnitude of sediment deposition. To this end, reservoir surveys were conducted to estimate sediment deposition rate for 11 reservoirs identified to be representative of catchments in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Two approaches were employed during the survey: one was based on measurement of sediment thickness in reservoirs while the other was based on comparing the original and existing topography of the reservoir‐beds. The average annual sediment yield estimated for the study sites was about 19 t ha^?1 y^?1. An equation of the type SSY = 3á36A^0á67 (with SSY = area specific sediment yield in t ha^?1 y^?1 and A = catchment area in km²) was also established for the study region, which is opposite to the ‘universal’ SSY–A relationship. In order to improve the sediment yield predictive capability of A, it was integrated with a factorial index that assesses the catchment's propensity to erosion and potential sediment yield. The effect of accelerated sediment deposition on water storage loss of reservoirs and possible controlling factors of the SSY–A relationship are outlined. The potential semi‐quantitative scoring approach to characterize catchments in terms of erosion sensitivity and the significance of the A‐index approach to predict SSY of similar catchments are also highlighted. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantifying seasonal export and retention of nutrients in West European lowland rivers at catchment scale

To set accurate critical values for the protection of lakes and coastal areas, it is crucial to know the seasonal variation of nutrient exports from rivers. This article presents an improved method for estimating export and in‐stream nutrient retention and its seasonal variation. For 13 lowland river catchments in Western Europe, inputs to surface water and exports were calculated on a monthly basis. The catchments varied in size (21 to 486 km²), while annual in‐stream retention ranged from 23 to 84% for N and 39 to 72% for P. A novel calculation method is presented that quantifies monthly exports from lowland rivers based on an annual load to the river system. Inputs in the calculation are annual emission to the surface waters, average monthly river discharge, average monthly water temperature and fraction of surface water area in the catchment. The method accounts for both seasonal variation of emission to the surface water and seasonal in‐stream retention. The agreement between calculated values and calibration data was high (N: r² = 0·93; p < 0·001 and P: r² = 0·81; p < 0·001). Validation of the model also showed good results with model efficiencies for the separate catchments ranging from 31 to 95% (average 76%). This indicates that exports of nitrogen and phosphorus on a monthly basis can be calculated with few input data for a range of West European lowland rivers. Further analysis showed that retention in summer is higher than that in winter, resulting in lower summer nutrient concentrations than that calculated with an average annual input. This implies that accurate evaluation of critical thresholds for eutrophication effects must account for seasonal variation in hydrology and nutrient loading. Our quantification method thus may improve the modelling of eutrophication effects in standing waters. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Capturing temporal variability for estimates of annual hydrochemical export from a first‐order agricultural catchment in southern Ontario,Canada

This 2‐year study (2000, 2001) reports annual nutrient (phosphorus, nitrate) export from a first‐order agricultural watershed in southern Ontario based on an intensive monitoring programme. The importance of storm and melt events in annual export estimates is demonstrated and the temporal variability in nutrient loading during events is related to processes occurring within the catchment. The feasibility of predicting event‐related nutrient export from hydrometric data is explored. The importance of sampling frequency throughout events is also shown. Export of total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and nitrate ( ) for 2000 and 2001 averaged 0·35 kg ha^?1 year^?1, 0·09 kg ha^?1 year^?1, and 35 kg ha^?1 year^?1 (as N) respectively. Approximately 75% of annual TP export, 80% of annual SRP export and 70% of annual export occurred during 28 events per year. A small number of large‐magnitude events (>34 mm) accounted for 18–42% of annual TP export, 0–61% of annual SRP export and 13–33% of annual NO export. Our results show that temporal variability in nutrient export is largely governed by discharge in this basin, and export can be predicted from discharge. SRP and TP export can also be predicted from discharge, but only for events that are not large in magnitude. The sampling interval throughout events is important in obtaining precise estimates of nutrient export, as infrequent sampling intervals may over‐ or under‐estimate nutrient export by ± 45% per event for P. This study improves our understanding of and P export patterns and our ability to predict or model them by relating temporal variability in event nutrient export to discharge and processes occurring within the basin, and also by exploring the significance of sampling interval in the context of the importance of individual events, season and temporal variability during events. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of instream processes,discharge, and land cover on nitrogen export from southern Appalachian Mountain catchments

Catchments with minimal disturbance usually have low dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) export, but disturbances and anthropogenic inputs result in elevated DIN concentration and export and eutrophication of downstream ecosystems. We studied streams in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA, an area dominated by hardwood deciduous forest but with areas of valley agriculture and increasing residential development. We collected weekly grab samples and storm samples from nine small catchments and three river sites. Most discharge occurred at baseflow, with baseflow indices ranging from 69% to 95%. We identified three seasonal patterns of baseflow DIN concentration. Streams in mostly forested catchments had low DIN with bimodal peaks, and summer peaks were greater than winter peaks. Streams with more agriculture and development also had bimodal peaks; however, winter peaks were the highest. In streams draining catchments with more residential development, DIN concentration had a single peak, greatest in winter and lowest in summer. Three methods for estimating DIN export produced consistent results. Annual DIN export ranged from less than 200 g ha^?1 year^?1 for the less disturbed catchments to over 2,000 g ha^?1 year^?1 in the catchments with the least forest area. Land cover was a strong predictor of DIN concentration but less significant for predicting DIN export. The two forested reference catchments appeared supply limited, the most residential catchment appeared transport limited, and export for the other catchments was significantly related to discharge. In all streams, baseflow DIN export exceeded stormflow export. Morphological and climatological variation among watersheds created complexities unexplainable by land cover. Nevertheless, regression models developed using land cover data from the small catchments reasonably predicted concentration and export for receiving rivers. Our results illustrate the complexity of mechanisms involved in DIN export in a region with a mosaic of climate, geology, topography, soils, vegetation, and past and present land use.     

The role of wetland coverage within the near‐stream zone in predicting of seasonal stream export chemistry from forested headwater catchments

Stream chemistry is often used to infer catchment‐scale biogeochemical processes. However, biogeochemical cycling in the near‐stream zone or hydrologically connected areas may exert a stronger influence on stream chemistry compared with cycling processes occurring in more distal parts of the catchment, particularly in dry seasons and in dry years. In this study, we tested the hypotheses that near‐stream wetland proportion is a better predictor of seasonal (winter, spring, summer, and fall) stream chemistry compared with whole‐catchment averages and that these relationships are stronger in dryer periods with lower hydrologic connectivity. We evaluated relationships between catchment wetland proportion and 16‐year average seasonal flow‐weighted concentrations of both biogeochemically active nutrients, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nitrate (NO₃‐N), total phosphorus (TP), as well as weathering products, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), at ten headwater (<200 ha) forested catchments in south‐central Ontario, Canada. Wetland proportion across the entire catchment was the best predictor of DOC and TP in all seasons and years, whereas predictions of NO₃‐N concentrations improved when only the proportion of wetland within the near‐stream zone was considered. This was particularly the case during dry years and dry seasons such as summer. In contrast, Ca and Mg showed no relationship with catchment wetland proportion at any scale or in any season. In forested headwater catchments, variable hydrologic connectivity of source areas to streams alters the role of the near‐stream zone environment, particularly during dry periods. The results also suggest that extent of riparian zone control may vary under changing patterns of hydrological connectivity. Predictions of biogeochemically active nutrients, particularly NO₃‐N, can be improved by including near‐stream zone catchment morphology in landscape models.     

The use of TN:TP and DIN:TP ratios as indicators for phytoplankton nutrient limitation in oligotrophic lakes affected by N deposition

The stoichiometric composition of lake water chemistry affects nutrient limitation among phytoplankton. I show how TN:TP and DIN:TP ratios vary in oligotrophic lakes of Europe and the USA affected by different amounts of N deposition, and evaluate whether the DIN:TP ratio is a better indicator than the TN:TP ratio for discriminating between N and P limitation of phytoplankton. Data were compiled from boreal and low to high alpine lakes, and comprise epilimnetic lake water chemistry data (106 lakes) and results from short-term nutrient bioassay experiments (28 lakes). A large share (54%) of the oligotrophic lakes in the study had low TN:TP mass ratios (<25). DIN:TP ratios showed higher variability than TN:TP ratios. Variability in DIN:TP ratios was related to N deposition, but also to catchment characteristics. Data from short-term bioassay experiments with separate addition of N and P showed that the DIN:TP ratio was a better indicator than the TN:TP ratio for N and P limitation of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton shift from N to P limitation when DIN:TP mass ratios increase from 1.5 to 3.4. High DIN:TP ratios, indicating P limitation of phytoplankton, were generally found in alpine lakes with low to moderate N deposition and in boreal lakes with high to very high amounts of N deposition.     

Phosphorus and nitrogen limitation of algal biomass across trophic gradients

Regression results based on data from 46 northern temperate lakes show that total phosphorus (TP) is the best predictor for phytoplankton (as chl-a) at lower trophic levels, TP < 200 mg · m^–3. A regression including both TP and TN as regressors is the best predictor for lakes with TP > 200 mg · m^–3. However, the good correlation is probably due to a high correlation between lake average chl-a (all years observed) and lake average TP and TN. Within single hypereutrophic lakes, TN alone is the best predictor. It was not possible to identify a medium trophic domain where TN and TP in combination was the best predictor for chl-a. The ratio TN:TP in the water decreases from about 40 to about 5 with increasing trophic level. Optimum TN:TP ratio for algal species with high abundance during late summer and autumn reflects this decreasing ratio, but within a lesser range, i.e., 20 to 5. In contrast, TN:TP ratios for species abundant during the early vernal period showed no, or an inverse, relation to the TN:TP ratio of the water.     

Stormwater pollutant runoff: A stochastic approach

Since stormwater wash-off of pollutants in urban areas is largely affected by environmental variability, it is very difficult to predict the amount of pollutants transported by stormwater runoff during and after individual rainfall events. We investigated the addition of a random component into an exponential wash-off equation of total suspended solids (TSS) and total nitrogen (TN) to model the variability of runoff pollutant concentrations. The model can be analytically solved to describe the probability distributions of TSS and TN concentrations as a function of increasing runoff depths. TSS data from six Australian catchments and TN data from three of these catchments were used to calibrate the model and evaluate its applicability. Using the results of the model, its potential use to determine the appropriate size of stormwater treatment systems is discussed, stressing how probabilistic considerations should be included in the design of such systems. Specifically, stormwater depths retained by a treatment system should result from a compromise between the recurrence of specific runoff depths and the probability to discharge a target pollutant concentration when such a runoff depth is exceeded.     

Artificial neural network modelling of concentrations of nitrogen,phosphorus and dissolved oxygen in a non‐point source polluted river in Zhejiang Province,southeast China

A back‐propagation algorithm neural network (BPNN) was developed to synchronously simulate concentrations of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and dissolved oxygen (DO) in response to agricultural non‐point source pollution (AGNPS) for any month and location in the Changle River, southeast China. Monthly river flow, water temperature, flow travel time, rainfall and upstream TN, TP and DO concentrations were selected as initial inputs of the BPNN through coupling correlation analysis and quadratic polynomial stepwise regression analysis for the outputs, i.e. downstream TN, TP and DO concentrations. The input variables and number of hidden nodes of the BPNN were then optimized using a combination of growing and pruning methods. The final structure of the BPNN was determined from simulated data based on experimental data for both the training and validation phases. The predicted values obtained using a BPNN consisting of the seven initial input variables (described above), one hidden layer with four nodes and three output variables matched well with observed values. The model indicated that decreasing upstream input concentrations during the dry season and control of NPS along the reach during average and flood seasons may be an effective way to improve Changle River water quality. If the necessary water quality and hydrology data are available, the methodology developed here can easily be applied to other case studies. The BPNN model is an easy‐to‐use modelling tool for managers to obtain rapid preliminary identification of spatiotemporal water quality variations in response to natural and artificial modifications of an agricultural drainage river. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heterogeneous timing of freshwater input into Kobbefjord,a low-arctic fjord in Greenland

The majority of freshwater input from Greenland to the global ocean stems from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Currently, almost a quarter of the freshwater flowing from Greenland is derived from catchments that are disconnected from the Greenland Ice Sheet. Despite their importance to the total freshwater flux and influence on fjord geochemistry, there is relatively little monitoring data available for those catchments and therefore the drivers of regional differences in export are largely unknown. We present a dataset of 12 years of discharge of four catchments less than 15 km apart, that are different in size (between 7 and 32 km²), local glacier coverage (4%–11%) and lake cover (0%–5%). They all drain into Kobbefjord, a well-studied fjord in West Greenland, near Greenland's capital Nuuk. Between catchments, the magnitude of discharge varies at annual, seasonal and sub-daily timescales, due to differences in physical catchment properties as well as local climate variability. We find that annual specific discharges vary greatly (between 1.2 and 1.9 m/year on a 12-year average) due to a longitudinal precipitation gradient from West to East caused by different amount of orographic precipitation shading. The seasonal cycle of discharge (amplitude, timing and minimum flow) differs among the sites mainly due to different exposure to solar radiation as a driver for major snowmelt; the small ice coverage in the catchments plays only a minor role in discharge variability. Dry years generally increase the relative differences in annual specific discharge and no significant temporal trends have been found in the studied catchments. On a sub-daily timescale, the difference in timing of maximum discharge during fair-weather days (>80% maximum solar radiation and no precipitation) ranged between 7 and 12 h, which is attributed to differences between the presence and elevation of lakes among the catchments. The response of discharge to major precipitation events is discussed, where a delay of between 5 and 7 h is found for the catchments that do not contain lakes near the gauge.     

Temporal relations between meander deformation,water discharge and sediment fluxes in the floodplain of the Rio Beni (Bolivian Amazonia)

The Andean Cordillera and piedmont significantly influence river system and dynamics, being the source of many of the important rivers of the Amazon basin. The Beni River, whose upper sub‐catchments drain the Andean and sub‐Andean ranges, is a major tributary of the Madeira River. This study examines the river in the south‐western Amazonian lowlands of Bolivia, where it develops mobile meanders. Channel migration, meander‐bend morphology and ox‐bow lakes are analysed at different temporal and spatial scales. The first part of this study was undertaken with the aim to link the erosion–deposition processes in the active channel with hydrological events. The quantification of annual erosion and deposition areas shows high inter‐annual and spatial variability. In this study, we investigate the conditions of sediment exportation in the river in relation to three hydrological parameters (flood intensity, date of discharge peak and duration of the bank‐full stage level). The second part of this study, focusing on the abandoned meanders, analyses the cutoff processes and the post‐abandonment evolution during 1967–2001. This approach shows the influence of the active channel behaviour on the sediment diffusion and sequestration of the abandoned meanders and allows us to build a first model of the contemporary floodplain evolution. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrological trends and the evolution of catchment research in the Alptal valley,central Switzerland

When the observation of small headwater catchments in the pre-Alpine Alptal valley (central Switzerland) started in the late 1960s, the researchers were mainly interested in questions related to floods and forest management. Investigations of geomorphological processes in the steep torrent channels followed in the 1980s, along with detailed observations of biogeochemical and ecohydrological processes in individual forest stands. More recently, research in the Alptal has addressed the impacts of climate change on water supply and runoff generation. In this article, we describe, for the first time, the evolution of catchment research at Alptal, and present new analyses of long-term trends and short-term hydrologic behaviour. Hydrometeorological time series from the past 50 years show substantial interannual variability, but only minimal long-term trends, except for the ~2°C increase in mean annual air temperature over the 50-year period, and a corresponding shift towards earlier snowmelt. Similar to previous studies in larger Alpine catchments, the decadal variations in mean annual runoff in Alptal's small research catchments reflect the long-term variability in annual precipitation. In the Alptal valley, the most evident hydrological trends were observed in late spring and are related to the substantial change in the duration of the snow cover. Streamflow and water quality are highly variable within and between hydrological events, suggesting rapid shifts in flow pathways and mixing, as well as changing connectivity of runoff-generating areas. This overview illustrates how catchment research in the Alptal has evolved in response to changing societal concerns and emerging scientific questions.